There's way better handheld cutting tools that cut far better than that slow and awkward thing. A plain old oxy/acetylene torch would have done the same job in 1/4 the time and produced much smoother cuts.

ReapTheChaos:There's way better handheld cutting tools that cut far better than that slow and awkward thing. A plain old oxy/acetylene torch would have done the same job in 1/4 the time and produced much smoother cuts.

And it wouldn't scorch whatever happens to be sitting 10 feet behind whatever you're cutting. And it wouldn't take a couple MW power source.

ReapTheChaos:There's way better handheld cutting tools that cut far better than that slow and awkward thing. A plain old oxy/acetylene torch would have done the same job in 1/4 the time and produced much smoother cuts.

Loren:The Madd Mann: And it wouldn't scorch whatever happens to be sitting 10 feet behind whatever you're cutting. And it wouldn't take a couple MW power source.

It's not scorching what's behind--note how the overshoot beam is a big circle, not a point. The laser is obviously focused at only one point. And that thing probably only draws tens of watts.

Note also how the backstop is reflective metal. And how the worker is wearing not only eye shielding, but a full-body reflective thermal suit. The flying sparks show that there's a lot of forced air blowing past the work zone; a laser alone doesn't blast sparks away in the direction of the beam.

Everybody wants a light-saber-style handheld laser that can cut through steel. Nobody thinks about how reflective steel is, and how much glare is going to be blasting around in everybody's faces. Handheld laser swords make about as much sense as hand-grenade toothpaste.

jfarkinB:Everybody wants a light-saber-style handheld laser that can cut through steel. Nobody thinks about how reflective steel is, and how much glare is going to be blasting around in everybody's faces. Handheld laser swords make about as much sense as hand-grenade toothpaste.

Do you mean hand grenades full of toothpaste, or toothpaste that contains hand grenades?

Cybernetic:jfarkinB: Everybody wants a light-saber-style handheld laser that can cut through steel. Nobody thinks about how reflective steel is, and how much glare is going to be blasting around in everybody's faces. Handheld laser swords make about as much sense as hand-grenade toothpaste.

Do you mean hand grenades full of toothpaste, or toothpaste that contains hand grenades?

ReapTheChaos:There's way better handheld cutting tools that cut far better than that slow and awkward thing. A plain old oxy/acetylene torch would have done the same job in 1/4 the time and produced much smoother cuts.